


Sincerity

by MTHammer



Series: Moving On, and Getting Over [3]
Category: Splatoon
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Male-Female Friendship, Non-Sexual Intimacy, THEY ARE JUST, and I do mean bare, references to the Octarian Military, so gd soft, the BAREST hint of trauma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-18 09:42:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29116197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MTHammer/pseuds/MTHammer
Summary: It came sudden, like the first rainfall of a new spring season. But it was certainly a welcome surprise to hear Cora speak so plainly, just like she always does.A look into the not-so-far future, of what it means to be more than friends, but less than lovers.
Relationships: Octoling(s) (Splatoon)/Octoling(s) (Splatoon)
Series: Moving On, and Getting Over [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2140785
Kudos: 3





	Sincerity

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place a good year and a half after Tobes joins Team .WAV(E)

"Oi."

Tobes looked up from his tinkering, the pensive face of Cora gracing his vision. She seemed to have a slight edge to her features this time around that he doesn't see often, which probably meant that she wants to talk about something important.

"What's up?"

"I wanna address something. ...About us I mean."

Ah. Yes, their friendship-but-not-totally-friendship they have between each other _does_ count as something important, doesn't it? He doesn't mind, though he would have also been content if she had continued to not say anything about it, if it put her mind at ease— especially given that she always seemed anything but whenever she tried to broach the subject in the past. He gave her a noncommittal hum, but encouraged her to keep going as he folded his hands away from his work, fixing his eyes on her to show his sincerity on the matter as well. She seemed really serious this time, it was only fair that he answered in kind.

She paces her words out evenly, as if she's run them through her head enough times that she's familiar with them. "So...we _are_ friends. That much is obvious."

He nods.

"And we hang out nearly all the time during off season and practice, but like, nothing much happens other than gaming and quite-time shit."

Another nod.

"And I can definitely tell there are feelings between the two of us. I mean–I like you a lot, but given, y'know, all the shit I've been through with Cadence I—"

"Yeah," he cuts in after sensing her falter at the mention of her ex, "you don't have to say more if you don't—"

"No–I mean yes–yeah. I mean...well..." she gives quick pause and an exhale, "I thought for a while that I didn't need to say it, this 'unspoken' thing we have between each other, but it's just not me to _not_ notice it and wanna talk about it, y'know?"

Another nod, this time a little longer and drawn out.

"But every time I do I get...cold feet? Like if I say it, it'll suddenly get all needlessly complicated. Not that this isn't complicated already but—it was enough...perfect...even."

Tobes eyes widened a fraction. It was one thing to guess—correctly he might add—that Cora enjoyed their current standing was one thing, but to hear her say, and _really_ say, that it was perfect, seriously made him feel some type of way. He blinked a few times to quickly refocus his thoughts as she continued on.

"It's just...I don't know," _or not_ —she trails off with an irritated huff, unable—or perhaps unwilling—to finish her thought.

_She's resisting...why is that?_

Tobes likes to think that he's got a nice thing going with Cora. They've found that both have many things in common with each other, their solidarity bringing mutual comfort to both octos. All their times of being in each other's company have made them used to each other's quiet presence, where even when few words passed between them—barring the odd long conversations they'd have once in a blue moon—they felt safe with each other without having to say anything. But there was one thing that's hasn't necessarily been bothering him, but was enough to warrant concern.

She didn't yet fully trust him enough to tell about her past relationships, despite mentioning them in passing and nothing more.

In truth, Tobes doesn't really mind that she's hiding something, the military has taught both of them to always keep your secrets close to yourself, and residual habits can often manifest in lingering insecurities or moments of anxiety, where your senses can brutally fling back into those times when everything was violent, unreasonable, and out to get you for no viable reason other than hatred and destruction.

Or at least, that's what their education had told them. Nowadays, the two knew better than to assume the world to truly be what the Octarian Military made them to believe it was. This means that her hesitation to open up came from something during her life on the surface, from the typical conflicts of squid society that, while inherently trivial and shallow in convincing how cephalos ought to live their lives, held a sort of quaintness that could only be described as a long sought after peace. But what was even more vexing about her secrecy was that it seemed like she _wanted_ to open up about this, but that there was one big, overarching thing in her mind that is stopping her from doing so, and that she'd dismiss it all with a sigh, a frustrated groan, or sometimes even a direct decline to say anything further, sometimes all three at once. He watches her flop upside down on the easy chair across from him with an exasperated "Guh," the briefest of chuckles breezing through his nose.

Tobes likes to think himself an advocate for sharing things that trouble one on the inside, and that keeping it in never went well for anyone with a conscience. Yet, at the same time, he knows that discretion can also provide temporary safety for those not yet ready to confront their inner demons.

Cora is, to put plainly, one of the most open, friendly, and confident cephalos he knows, just behind their dear captain of course. What could have happened to her in the past to suddenly make a vow to never trust so fully or easily again? The only reason why he even knows she trusts, or used to, trust easily was because she told him in a moment of weakness—an ironic twist of fate. Tobes still remembers the faint dull ache that ran through him as she leaned in his shoulder while curling into a little ball, her tears and sniffs long, yet hushed. Not a single sob escaped from her, and in retrospect he wonders if that was because it reminded her of the times when she used to think that the more she cried, the more she healed. Unfortunately, as she told him that day, it only made her even more brittle.

It's not often that Tobes let's himself ponder about these things, as he finds that most situations resolve themselves with time, and he's pretty good at keeping himself busy until the people around him are ready and comfortable to talk. But today, he thinks that she thinks that he thinks that it _is_ a good time to talk more about the things between them. The mostly good, but also mostly uncertain and undeclared. He didn't realize this until now, but sometimes even someone as confident as Cora needs affirmations from time to time.

He scooches closer to where Cora was hanging on the chair. Not too close, but close enough to lean against the chair with his elbow—his other hand crossing to rest on the crux of it—and look her in the eye again. She turns her head to the ceiling, likely from the slight anxiety she got from how intimate a turn the conversation was taking. He let it be, like he always has. He never minds. Tobias won't ask about her intimacy and trust issues, but he will take the leap and help address the elephant seal in the room.

"Hey." He says it so lowly, and yet it's somehow the clearest thing Cora can hear in the room. "Nothing will change between us, even if we call each other boyfriend/girlfriend."

A pause. Cora's face scrunches back into that pensive frustration from earlier.

"Labels suck dude."

"Heh! They sure damn do." He stretches out toothy grin, a humorless scoff blows through it.

Her next words come out immediately after his retort, like she needed to get them out before they retreated back into the recesses of her mind forever, "The minute you call someone that, you start having to _commit_ to all the boyfriend/girlfriend shit society goes ga-ga over all the damn time." There's some lingering heat in her words, and the haze in her eyes only grew more thick with each inch her eyebrows drew closer. "And it's...it's exhausting, man. To overcommit to something so much that you lose your sense of self..." her eyes turn distant, "it's unsettling."

Another pause, and the toothy grin is gone. That was about the closest he's gotten insight into what her troubles have been like since she and Cadence left each other. Naturally, however, it only made him understand less of why she's even like this to begin with. A small twinge of sadness runs through neck, but it doesn't stop, nor warp, his next words.

"Then we don't have too."

"Yeah, but ," she moves back upright and looks down at the yellow octo, her eyes betraying that slight haze of frustration once again, "we can't deny that what's between us is...something...something big. I don't want to just ignore it. Again, that's just not me..." She looks away, gaze drifting past him and to the left.

Her answer came immediately, like she'd had this conversation before; Tobes gets the impression she has had it, with herself, and by that assumption has put an enormous amount of thought into what their relationship has been implying for the last year or so that they've been friends—and then some.

And he couldn't deny it either, he could sense something profound has grown between the two; in the way their touches grow soft in each others hands and on their shoulders; or the way they manage to catch each other's silent gazes minutes before turning away. But, as Cora has said once before, no person can ever live a lie for long. To live life with eyes unclouded to the truth of reality, and free of the despair that came so often with it, is a life that she desires above all—and to him, he desires that too, he realizes.

"You're right." She looks back at him, her face smoothed suddenly into curiosity. He'll take those W's. "This isn't something either of us can dance around anymore, but that doesn't mean we need to...stop or change anything, really. We don't have to say anything more on the subject, and just let things be." It's his turn to look away, the anxiety of all this being out in open chipping at his resolve by a little bit. He regains his courage by averting his gaze and taking a deep breath, deciding to let himself break eye contact for the time being. "We both still have our own walls and boundaries with each other, am I wrong?"

A shake of the head.

"Good. And honestly?" He turns back away from her. "I'm in zero rush to tear them down like all the other shoujo manga squit and love stories we hear in our friend groups. I like this too...I like us too. And to me, that's enough...for now."

"For now..." she echoes back, half-dazed. A concluding silence blankets the room, and the two revel in the calm that flows between them now. Tobes closes his eyes to savor it, this feeling of warmth smoothing over his head and down his arms.

"Heh, why do I get the impression that what you said just now was pretty damn cool?" His ears catch onto Cora's remark, a smirk breathing life into his feature once more.

"Learned from the best." His words come out smooth as vermouth, and thought he can't tell, Cora's throat stutters for a bit, thankful that no words were coming through it. And a smirk of her own graces her features.

**Author's Note:**

> Wrung out the brain worms for this one, writing a lot of it out helped some in sorting out my own baggage and whatnot, so thinking about these two soft octos will always fill me with an immense amount of comfort. =w=


End file.
